Previously Deputy Chief Executive of Young’s Seafood Limited, Mr Ward was instrumental in the development of Fish for Life, the award winning CSR programme on responsible sourcing, and had a key role in delivering the growth of the company’s chilled business from a Turnover of £4million to a Turnover of over £400million, alongside overall successful business performance.
James Hill, Chief Executive of Findus Group the parent company of Young’s Seafood Limited, said: “I’m pleased to announce the appointment of Pete Ward as Chief Executive of Young’s Seafood Limited. His knowledge and experience of the seafood industry is second to none and his drive, ingenuity, innovation and commitment to manufacturing excellence has been crucial to the development of the company. It has been a great privilege to look after Young’s Seafood Limited for the past nine months, I have been very impressed by the quality of the management and I am now turning my attention to other parts of the Findus Group. Having worked closely with Pete over the past year, I’m delighted that he will now lead Young’s Seafood Limited through the next phase of the company’s journey.”
Pete Ward, the new Chief Executive of Young’s Seafood Limited, added: “With a heritage spanning over 200 years, Young’s Seafood has a special place in the hearts of many people in Britain. I’m delighted to lead such an impressive team of fish experts – from our Development Chef to our Marine Biologist and from our Marketers to our Production Operatives – each and every one of them has an important part to play in Young’s. With quality, supply chain integrity and responsible sourcing right at the heart of our business strategy, Young’s Seafood Limited is on course for a successful future.”
Pete Ward has spent his entire working life in the fish and seafood industry and joined the company that is now Young’s Seafood Limited in 1978. During the past 35 years Ward has held a number of leadership roles within the frozen and chilled categories of the business covering financial, operations and management positions.
Qualified in Finance and Law, Ward was previously Managing Director of the Seafood Company, the UK’s largest seafood business in 2008, before it became part of Young’s Seafood Limited. As Chief Operating Officer and, most recently, Deputy Chief Executive of Young’s Seafood Limited, Pete Ward played an important role in developing the company to be the leading seafood business in the UK.
James Hill continues in his role as Chief Executive of Findus Group. The remainder of the UK executive team remains unchanged.
